I have had the privilege of working in many different classrooms within the Catholic School system as an EA for 12 years.

Teachers have their own style and way of doing things in each school and classroom. I worked with Special needs students but also general classroom support, so I was able to observe many different styles first hand. Students have such a variety of different needs and it is very beneficial to work in different grades with different degrees of need in order to experience first hand what type of classroom make up I may have one day.

With the ever increasing needs in the classroom, I am happy I have been in a position that shows a different side of things than being the classroom teacher. Inclusion is an important part in how classrooms are run, having been an EA will be a very big advantage for me as a teacher. There’s no better experience than getting it first hand.

I am a mother of three grown children so its safe to say I have some field experience there as well.